I was heavily considering a 2025 E-Class 450. Never owned MB before. I have just heard they are money pits and people always have issues with them. I just wanted to find out from people who own these cars. I am 6' 2 as well I seem to fit but just wanted to find out from others as well. How are the multi-contour seats on long trips?

 

As a new car, it really cannot be a money pit since just about any issue would be covered by a factory warranty. They can and will cost money for repairs down the road once the factory warranty and any extended warranty runs out. That can be 5-6 years though depending on the extended warranty.

Having said that, all MBs are expensive to maintain with regular maintenance costing hundreds and even over a thousand dollars when using a MB dealership. The E-Class is not uniquely expensive over any other MB. As far as reliability, you are going to get a lot of different opinions. I've had a 2012 E350 and no issues over 12 years and 170K miles. I have a 2025 E450 and no issues so far with nearly 13K miles. There are plenty of other owners of the W214 E350 and E450 who also have no issues, but there are some who have had issues with software and even a few with some mechanical issues. Do some browsing in. This forum to see more details. Keep in mind that the owners on this site may not be a good representation of W214 owners. Many people come here because they have an issue and are looking for help. They likely would have never came here if their car was problem free. Even with that, it doesn't seem to me that there are a lot of issues, but I haven't done the math to count them.

I would ask, who told you they are money pits and are they speaking from any actual experience or repeating what they have heard? Either way, nobody could legitimately say any 2025 car is a money pit since any repairs are covered under warranty. Will they become a money pit? Only time will tell. Come back in 2030 and maybe you can get a data driven facts based answer.

 

thank you for your highly detailed response.

 

I find Mercedes to be more reliable than most other cars I’ve owned, but when something does go wrong it’s gonna cost a premium to fix it. Parts can be three times that of a domestic car (as well as VW, BMW and other Euro cars).

 

I’ve owned BMW for the last couple years so that’s good to know. Anyone know about taller people 6 2 fitting in these cars? Your experience with it? Thanks

 

My '18 E300 was built in the spring of 2017 and driven every day since then. When I took delivery the dealer replaced weak door hinges under warranty. Other than routine A and B services I have replaced the battery and tires once and the wiper blades twice. Insurance replaced a shattered windscreen that was hit by flying debris. The car will be due for scheduled transmission service soon. That's it. I've owned Mercedes since the 1960's and none have had any significant repair issues.

 

I have a 2014 E250BT that I ordered new from the factory. It has 120,000 km on it. I purchased an extended warranty for a total of 7 years of coverage.

There have been a few issues over the years but nothing more than I’ve had with other cars built in NA, Japan, and Europe. I’d say it’s been one of the more reliable cars my family and I have owned. I echo the comments re: maintenance costs - even routine maintenance is expensive.

I plan to buy an E450 but haven’t pulled the trigger as I can’t justify getting rid of my current E-class. Nothing rattles, everything works, and it drives as solidly as the day I took delivery. The only thing it’s missing is Apple Car Play which forces me to use the Mercedes “Command” interface which is very 2014 in appearance and function.

A friend kept his CLK for close to 20 years and my father drove an S-class for more than 20 years. Mercedes builds expensive but excellent cars.

 

I can relate. The 2012 E350 I had was in great shape. Drove and looked like a new car. Part of that was how I took care of it, but it was also very reliable. I would have kept it another 5 years if I hadn't wrecked it.

 

I'm 6'1" and have no issues fitting with room to spare. I do like to sit more vertical with arms bent about 45° for maximum control. Im not close, but not half in the back seat either. A 6'1" person could easily sit behind me. My son is 6'3" and has no issues sitting in the front or back, but it is a little hard to get in the back due to the wheel well taking up part of the door entry. I have yet to let him drive.

 

I can share that I have owned MB's since 2001, back then the quality was not great in my opinion or the car I had was more troublesome than others. I would say that since the W212, the quality has been great. I drove that car for about 6 years, sold it privately and the person that bought is drove it until it had 125,000 miles with no issues. He sold it and when I sold my W213, he bought that one from me. As others have said during the first 4 years other than required maintenance there is no additional cost. I currently have the W214 and a W238 (2019 E450 Coupe), that is 6 years old and is trouble free. Still drives like it did when it was new.

 

this is really assuring. I sat in the car for a bit and the SA showed me the Mercedes feature to put in your height and weight and it recommended me a seat suggestion and I fine tuned it from there. It seemed like I had a inch of headroom.. I’m probably overthinking it now and won’t even realize it later.

comfortability was another factor sitting in the seat for 3 hours round trip I sat in it for about an hour and no back pain or aching seems like a very comfortable car.

 

I've taken three long trips (12+ hours drive time) with each having several 3+ hour long segments of non-stop driving. It was quite comfortable especially with the massage and seat kinetics. I think my longest non-stop stretch was just about 4 1/2 hours. Using the active lane keep helped a bit as well. I did not feel spent like I have on 12+ hour drives in other cars.

 

My first Mercedes was in 1973 when I was 30 years old. I am now 80 years old and have owned a 450SE, 350E, 300D Turbo, CL550, S430, S550 Sedan, 3 S550 Coupes, E350 Convertible, GLE53, GLC300 and now a 2025 E450 fully equipped. I've only had one Warranty issue over the years which was a pinhole in one of the wheels that kept flattening a rear tire. The wheel was replaced by my MB Dealer without any issue. So, over 50 years owning only Mercedes-Benz autos, with only one warranty issue, I say GO FOR IT!!!

 

Idk if I need to start a new thread but I’ll just say I almost purchased a 25 450 but for some reason I couldn’t get the headroom to be good enough. Basically I was looking for my hand to be flat and my knuckles to just barely touch or really not touch the headliner at all. When I did the Mercedes reccomenddd seat position my head was just under the headliner.

What do I do? Can I do anything? How do you get comfortable in the car? My inseam is 32 and I’m 6 1/2. What’s enough headroom supposed to mean?

thank you a lot

 

The auto positioning puts the seat too high in my opinion. You can lower the seat and get plenty of headroom. I'm 6'1" with a 33" inseam and have no issues. I've never hit my head even if wearing a hat.

 

okay I will have to go back and play with the seat for more than 5 minutes then lol. I’ll bring a hat too. I notice that some areas of the roofline are shorter than others so that could be it too thanks

 

Sounds like you may be looking for a problem that does not exist. Too little headroom is when your head hits something hard when you go over a bump. Are the roads poor where you drive? Is something hard just above the liner? Test drive on a bumpy road, then you'll know if it is a real problem or just a worry.

 

Typically in the DMV/NOVA area roads are pretty good. The main reason is asking is because in my cadalliac when I go over bumps on the highway occasionally my head will brush the headliner a smidge. The e-class felt slightly less headroom but like barely. But I think I’m more inclined to agree with you I shouldn’t hit a bump that throws me out of my seat.

 

I am also 6’1” and have no problems.

 

Hey Joker, This is a repost from my reply to the other forum you posted this request on.

I am now on my 2nd E-450. My previous one was a 2019 which I traded in December for a 2025 E-450. I am 6' 2" and weigh about 260 and did weigh as much as 300 when I had my 2019. The comfort of the E-Class is fantastic. It is one of the primary reasons I purchased my 2025. I drive it on long trips (about 1700 miles one way) once a year and many trips of about 3.5 hours. The seats are excellent, especially in my 2025 as I did spec it with the Nappa Leather and massaging seats. But even if you don't opt in for that, you will not be disappointed in the comfort of the seats and the ride. The standard seats have standard feature which is a very useful comfort feature for long trips called "Energizing Seat Kinetics". This adjusts the seats slightly while driving by inflating and deflating different areas of the seats which helps with fatigue. There is plenty of head room too.

Regarding cost of ownership, the first 4 years/50000 miles are pretty much just oil changes and other scheduled maint. Yes, it will cost you more than driving a Toyota, Chevy, Ford etc, but not much more than owning anything in the top tier luxury class such as BMW, Audi, Lexus. I purchased the prepaid maintenance plan which I HIGHLY recommend, and I also purchased a 7 year 75,0000 mile MB extended warranty. I plan on keeping my E-450 at least 6 years and will put about 55,000 miles on it.

Lastly, you asked about always having issues with a MB. My 2019 had zero issues and only a few recalls. My 2025 has had a few minor glitches. One is that I have had a few check engine light events which were the same issue and that is that the Turbocharger waste gate sticks in the open position. The dealer has offered to replace it with a redesigned part, but since it resets itself within a few hours or a few days and does not harm the engine, I have decide not to replace it as the fix requires removal of a number of engine components in order to access the part. The good news is that you would most likely be buying a more recent E-450 that has the new part installed from the factory!

 

awesome! Thank you for taking the time to write this lengthy reply. I’m glad you’re enjoying yours. This helps a lot